Date Night - Naked Fish

We love Naked Fish. We've been there for Valentine's for a sake and food pairing. We've done the Omakase.  It is just one of those places that just keeps getting better and better.  Sothea started off with a Prosecco and Som ordered their Taketsuru Old Fashioned.  He absolutely loved it.  He thought it was the best Old Fashioned that he's ever had.  It was just something about the Taketsuru that added something special.
















We started off with a mackeral sashimi that was on their specials.  Their fish is always so light and fresh.  It's lovely.  This mackeral was less mackeral tasting and cleaner.  Delicious!

Then we ordered their Kushiyaki.  We started off with the chicken oysters, scallops, and mushrooms. The Kushiyaki is our favorite things to eat here.  We just kept ordering more and more.  We could eat a whole plate of the mushrooms.  And the scallops were perfectly cooked.

We also ordered rolls.  The rolls are good.  We could have probably gone without them because seriously the Kushiyaki is what we come for.

We ended our meal with a few pieces of Nigri.  It was a perfect, light way to end it.

Naked Fish is one of our favorite restaurants in Salt Lake.  A must try!

Date Night - HSL

HSL sister restaurnt to Handle in Park City opened during the Spring of this year.  We were very excited to try it.  People have been raving about it.  So we made a double date out of it and went with our friends Steven and Violetta.

The restaurant is beautiful, sleek, and modern.  It has a great ambiance.  The large dining chairs makes the restaurant seem a little crowded but it's not bad.

We started off with the flatbread.  It was really good.  It was fresh and earthy.  It was very light and a great way to start a meal.

Flatbread

Steven and Violetta started off with a meat and cheese plate.  It was perfect.  There was a good selection and it's a typical portion for a meat and cheese plate.

Meat and Cheese

But then came our other plates.  Before we go on, we want to say that we love tapas.  We love small plates and one of the things we never complain about is the portion sizes.  We've gone to many places where other people will say that's too small of a portion for the price and we usually don't think so.  But this time we did.  These portions are extremely small for the price.  Sothea, who is not a big eater, who can never finish and entree by herself, left hungry.  She ordered the Tagliatelle Pasta.  It was very good but the portion was very small and it could have used more mushrooms.

Tagliatelle Pasta

Som ordered the burger.  Again the food was delicious but look below, see how many potatoes are on that plate?!?!

  

Beef Cheek Burger

Steven and Violetta also felt the same way.  The food was very tasty but for that price, we'd all rather go somewhere else.

Date - Brunch at Porch

Daybreak seems so far away and for us it really is.  We live less than 15 minutes from downtown, so that is where you can find us.  But we went out really far to Daybreak to try the Porch.  We love Meditrina and Porch is it's sister restaurant. So we had to give it a try.  We went out there for brunch one day.

It's a super cute place and the service was good. We went for a late brunch so there was only one waiter.  There was a large group of ladies and three other small tables but our waiter was still very attentive.





We started off with a Mimosa and Bloody Mary.  Both were good nothing special but good.

Bloody Mary and Mimosa

Som ordered the Southern Stack which is a cast iron Johnny cake, sauteed crawfish, bacon, an egg, and maple syrup.  He said that this is his new favorite brunch food.  He wants to get a cast iron skillet and try making his own!

Southern Stack

Sothea ordered the chicken biscuits which is fried chicken, scratch biscuits, eggs, and green peppercorn gravy.  It's mixing two of her favorite brunch foods together, chicken and waffles, and biscuits and gravy.  So if you are a fan of either or both, try this!

Chicken Biscuits

We had a really good experience and are thinking we will have to venture back and try dinner. Other people have been raving about their brick chicken with mac n cheese.  Who can say no to yummy mac n cheese?!?!  Double date anyone?

Date Night - Kyoto

Kushi Ebi Teriyaki

Kyoto has been around for a long time before either of us had even moved to Salt Lake. Sothea has been to Kyoto before and was never wowed by it. Som had never been before. So we both thought it would be a time to try it out... again.

We started off with the Kushi Ebi Teriyaki.  It was drenched in teriyaki sauce but it was delicious and we could have probably eaten another plate of it.  

Dynamite

Then we had the Dynamite.  It was good but lacking sauce. Shrimp - over-sauced. Dynamite - under-sauced.  Som loves a good dynamite and the best one was at Ginza.  We haven't found one that we liked as much as that one.













To drink, we ordered a bottle of sake.  We chose one that we thought we'd never had before but when it came out, we recognized the bottle. While we were in California, Sothea saw the Ginjo Sho Shiku Bai and bought it because the bottle was so cute. The bottle is probably the best thing about this sake.

We also ordered a couple of rolls.  One of them was the Green Eggs and Ham.  It has yellowtail, scallions, sprouts, cucumber topped with a wasabi tobiko and sriracha.  Som loves anything with sriracha.  In fact, he'll put sriracha on everything if he can.  This roll was fresh with just a little bit of a kick.

Green Eggs and Ham

The other roll was the Kinkaku which had spicy salmon and avocado topped with crab, habanero and masago.  Also a fairly decent and delicious roll.  The rolls were probably the best part of the meal.

Kinkaku

We also ordered the Saba Shioyaki (mackerel).  We were not expecting it to be such a large portion. We both enjoy mackerel but four pieces seemed like way too much.  It was good though.  The tempura vegetables however were not.  They were cut so thin it seemed like we were eating more tempura batter than vegetable.

Saba Shioyaki

Food wise there were some hits and some misses but we'd definitely give it another try.  The service was amazing though.  Kudos to our server!

Date - Brunch at Current

Bloody Mary and The Antoinette

Oh brunch, how we love you.  Delicious breakfast foods and not being frowned upon when we have a cocktail at 11:30 in the morning (not any earlier because of those Utah laws).  This time we went over to try Current's brunch menu.  We've been to Current and Under Current several times but this was the first time having brunch there.  It is so nice to see a brunch menu that offers different "brunch cocktails."  What makes a brunch cocktail different from any other cocktail?  Who knows? but it's nice to have an option if front of you besides a Bloody Mary or a Mimosa.

Som, who is on a quest to determine the best Bloody Mary in Salt Lake City ordered a Bloody Mary.  It was good. Maybe in the top three in the city?

Sothea ordered the Antoinete which had vodka, elderflower, grapefruit, lime, rhubarb bitters and sparkling wine.  How pretty is it?!?!  It's one of those drinks that you just want to stare at because it looks so nice and it actually taste as good as it looks.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

On a different quest, Som likes to try all the chicken and waffles as well.  Now that we had learned to make our own delicious chicken and waffles, any chicken and waffles is compared to that and of course the chicken and waffles at Provision.  This one was equally as good as our own and Provisions.

Hangtown Fry

Sothea ordered the Hangtown Fry.  It is fried oysters, scrambled eggs, mushrooms, bacon on sourdough.  It was good but not something that she would order again for brunch.  It just didn't seem to come together.  Everything on it's own tasted great but it felt like nothing was unifying the dish.

Decor, ambiance, and service are all great at Current.  It's a must try for brunch especially for their cocktails.  Som also ordered the Belafonte which had bourbon, velvet falernum, spiced syrup and lemon.  It's very nice on cold days.  

The Belafonte

Date Night - Oak Wood Fire Kitchen

Oak Bread

Sometimes, we make it down south too.  Unless we are visiting family in Provo, we usually don't make it past 10600 South.  We do have friends that live in Lehi so we met them and another couple at Oak Wood Fire Kitchen.  It was a Saturday night and it was super early as in the time that elderly people have dinner.  (We are elderly and enjoying having early dinners from time to time!)   The place was already packed and there was two big groups waiting in front of us.  The other two couples were running late so we decided to stay. It must have been too long for one group because they decided to leave.  Yeah for us! It decreased our wait time by a lot.

When we were sat, the manager brought us out the Oak Bread which is topped with Parmesan, rosemary, garlic oil and black pepper.  He apologized for the wait.   Honestly, we didn't even think it was that long.  We've waited way longer at other places but we did appreciate the gesture.

Our waiter was super friendly and kept calling Sothea, honey.  He did a really good job.

We decided to get a few appetizers to start off with and share.  Gina suggested the Sriracha-Honey Wings.  They were delicious and probably the best thing we at that night.  Sothea even tried making her own version a few days later.

Sriracha-Honey Wings

We also shared the Junk Fries which is topped with bacon, blue cheese crumbles, and caramelized onions.  It was also good.  Goes great with beer!

Junk Fries

Per suggestion of our waiter we ordered the Wild Mushroom Pizza.   We love goat cheese, mushrooms and caramelized onions together.  He did not steer us wrong.

Wild Mushroom Pizza

Everything we had was good, the service was great.  We'd definitely go back.  If it was closer we'd probably just order a bunch of Sriracha-Honey wings to go!

Date Night - Wagner Wine Dinner at BTG

Wagner Family of Wines

We love a good wine pairing especially if it's at a place like BTG which has become one of our go to spots downtown.  Granted we did have one bad experience there.  We were with two other people. Two people ordered the same flight.  One of the glasses of wine seemed off.  We all tried it and thought it was probably bad.  We told the waitress who later came back and said the sommelier tried it and said it was fine.  We left those glasses undrunken and very disappointed that we were not offered something else or a discount.  Later, Sothea tried that glass again and it tasted completely different.  It was good that time.  So we highly doubt that she ever talked to the sommelier and we don't think she works there anymore which is fine by us.  

Anyways back to the wine dinner.  We went with our friends Daniel and Nai who have been wanting to attend more events like this.  We started off with shrimp paired with the Conundrum White. That sauce was delicious.  We all souped it up with our bread and left nothing on the plate.  The men agreed that this was their favorite pairing of the night.  

Gambas al Ajillo paired with Conundrum White

The next dish was a brown butter risotto with crispy shallots and a grilled butternut squash. The risotto was perfect and creamy. The butteriness paired perfectly with the Chardonnay.  The ladies thought that this was the best pairing of the night.

Risotto with Grilled Butternut Squash paired wiht Mer Soleil Chardonnay

The first two dishes were so amazing that we couldn't wait for the rest.  Sadly, the first two pairings and dishes were the best ones. The next one was everyone's least favorite but the wine on it's own was Sothea's favorite wine of the night.  The wine was the Emmolo Merlot.  It was dark in color and had a smokey aroma.  It was inviting and warm with hints of plum.  The dish however was not.  Both men hated the texture of the beans. 

Duck with White Bean Cassoulet and Fig Gravy with Emmolo Merlot

The next dish was beef shoulder with a crispy Asiago potatoes.  Sothea, who doesn't eat beef had one with mushrooms instead. Some people are hesitant to try tasting because of allergies and such but if you notify them in advance, most places are willing to accommodate.  We have not yet been to one where they didn't accommodate Sothea being a non beef eater.  The chimichurri was very tasty and two others tried Sothea's mushrooms and thought it was better than the beef!  Also, we didn't get a picture of the beef dish.  The one below is with mushrooms.

The wine was the Red Schooner Voyage 2 which was the men's favorite wine of the night.  They liked it so much that they ordered 2 more ounces each.  It is a Malbec which is Som's favorite type of wine.  

Mushrooms with Chimichurri and Crispy
 Asiago Potatoes paired with Red Schooner Voyage 2

For dessert, we had a poached pear with Gorgonzola cream anglais.  It was paired with the Conundrum Red.  

Poached Pear paired with Conundrum Red

Good food, good wine, good friends equals a good night.  Oh and good service!  Ask for Mike, he's the best!

Date Night - CPK and Margaret Cho

It has been a little bit since we've been to Wiseguys Comedy.  This was actually our first time going to the new location at the Gateway. We started off with dinner at California Pizza Kitchen which we also haven't been to in a long time.  It's not our favorite for pizza.  We are both a little partial to Settebello but CPK was good. Also it's right next to the new location of Wiseguy, very convenient.








We got to Wiseguys, found some seats and saw something that we found quite strange.  There was a group of two girls and four guys. One guy was taking pictures of the girls and two guys were holding their phones around the girls for better lighting.  Now that is taking your camera picture game to the next level. Seriously though, how many guys would actually do that?  It was probably more amusing than Margaret Cho's opening act who mostly talked about being short and weed.

We ordered drinks.  Som ordered a whiskey on the rocks and Sothea ordered a gin and tonic. We can't quite remember but did they have liquor at the West Valley location or was it just beer? Regardless is was nice to be able to order since the admission requires a purchase of a food or drink and we had just had dinner at CPK.

Margaret was exactly what we expected hilarious and raunchy.  A lot of it is probably not even appropriate to mention.  She joked about the ridiculous things you have to go through to get liquor in Utah.  She joked about Asians, racial tension, gays, Mormons; nothing was off limits and it was hilarious. Especially the Asian parts because it is so relatable.  She even went to a more serious side, speaking out about how she was abused at a younger age.  Even though she was able to joke about it but it was obvious that it did hurt her and affect her greatly.  Maybe it's her way of dealing with it.

Overall, it was a great show.  Larry and Rachael who doubled with us didn't know much about her but thought she was hilarious.  Good times!

Date Night - Bull's Head

Sometimes we make it out of Salt Lake City.  Okay at least once a month but not always do we get to have dinner with Joel and Syna Harris.   They took us to a place on USU called the Bull's Head Pizzeria and Grille.  This is different for Logan.  It has bar food and you can get beer and wine near campus.  Back in the day, that was unheard of!

We started off with the Queso.  We definitely expected something else.  To us, this seemed more like a nacho cheese dip. Which then raised the question, "What is the difference between a queso dip and a nacho cheese dip?"  Anyone know?  This was nothing spectacular.  We agreed that we've had nachos just as good at 7-11.

Queso Dip

Som ordered the Galapon burger.  It's a 1/3 lb patty topped with smoked beef brisket, pepper jack cheese and BBQ sauce.  Sothea ordered the Monte Cristo which is smoked ham, fontina cheese, caramelized onions, Bear Lake raspberry preserves on toasted sourdough.  She was a little iffy about it because all the flavors especially the raspberry preserves did not sound good together.  But surprisingly everything tasted great together.  We both ordered sweet potatoes fries because whenever we see them on a menu, we just have to.  We ate them all up!

Galapon Burger

Monte Cristo Panini

The staff was friendly and the service was good.  Also they had the Utah Jazz game on which was great for the guys.  All in all it was a good night in Logan.

Date Night - Valentine's at Finca

We have a tradition that we started a few years ago, where we have a nice dinner and pairing with two of our best friends for Valentine's.  First year, we did a pairing at Naked Fish and last year we went to a wine dinner at Harmon's hosted by the wonderful Sheral Schowe.  This year, we decided on a wine pairing at Finca.

They sat us at this tiny round table that barely fit all our food and wine.  We thought it was strange that we were sat there but yet they sat groups of two or three people at booths which would have accommodated us perfectly.  It's a good thing that we are comfortable with each other.

It was a 6 course meal with 5 pairings.  The first pairing was an ensalada with artichoke hearts, mahon cheese, marcona almonds and a vinaigrette.  Lourie was in love with the cheese.  She tried to steal Sothear's.  The salad was paired with a Slow Waltz Cocktail which had gin, cava, orange and plum bitters with a black mission fig.  The drink was very tasty and we may just have to go out and get some bitters to make it at home.

Alcachofas paired with the Sloe Waltz Cocktail

The next course was a choice between three different tapas.  Two of us ordered the oysters and two of us ordered the pork belly. Oysters came with lime and mignonette on top.  We think the best places for oysters make a really delicious mignonette to accompany the oyster and this is one of those places.  Som said that this was the best oysters he has ever had.  

Ostras paired with Astobiza Hondurrabi Zuri, Txakoli

Next we all had a little cheese plate.  None of us has had cheese with pineapple jam and we all loved it so much.  The pairing... not so much.  The ladies gave their ciders to the men to finish. 

Spanish Cheese and Pineapple Jam paired with Castanon Sidra (cider)

For the entrees there were four to choose from.  Everyone but Sothea ordered the steak.  Sothea ordered the duck.  Sadly the entrees were probably our least favorite part of the meal and we really didn't get a good picture of them either.  Although, the wine that paired with the steak and duck were very good.  Probably our favorite wines of the night.  

For dessert, we all ordered the Creme Caramel.  It was paired with a nice dessert wine.  

Creme Caramel paired with Rare Wine Co Madeira

It was a very nice evening with amazing friends and we hope that the tradition continues.